In 31 BCE, the Romans conquered Egypt, the final event in the eastern Mediterranean’s transition from Hellenistic (Greek) to Roman rule. After this shift in power, the Egyptian funerary practice of mummification was blended with Greco-Roman traditions of life-like portraiture.

These painted panels depicting elite members of Egyptian society were mounted over the faces of the mummified dead. The portraits were executed in tempera (pigment mixed with animal glue) or encaustic (pigment mixed with melted or emulsified wax). Tempera dries quickly and would have been applied using extremely fine brushes. Encaustic was also painted with brushes, though painters often used a hard tool to blend tones and create texture and depth.